“so-called u.s. hostage appears to be toy”

According to CNN:

A photograph posted on an Islamist Web site appears to be that of an action figure and not a U.S. soldier being held hostage.

Liam Cusack, the marketing coordinator for Dragon Models USA, said the figure pictured on the Web site is believed to be “Special Ops Cody,” a military action figure the company manufactured in late 2003.

…On the Islamist Web site, a group calling itself the Al Mujahedeen Brigade, posted a photograph of a man it claimed was a captured U.S. soldier named John Adam, and it threatened to behead him if Iraqi prisoners are not released by U.S. forces.

Staff Sgt. Nick Minecci of the U.S. military’s press office in Baghdad told The Associated Press that “no units have reported anyone missing.”

The photograph showed the figure against a black flag with white lettering reading, “God is great, there is no god but Allah.” A U.S. military assault rifle was pointed at its head. It appears that “rifle” was part of the plastic weaponry that came with the action figure.

I know it’s probably not good to laugh at something like this, as it references the very real danger that our men and women in the armed forces are facing in Iraq each day, but I just had to share it. (Thanks for the link, Brian.) Thankfully, I don’t have the time right now to find my Mr. Potato Head and a squirt gun. If I did, I’d be tempted to swap an image of my own for the one on the CNN site and post a screen grab.